U19 Vietnam celebrates after beating Gwangju of South Korea in the final match of the 2017 International U19 Football Tournament on April 22 (Photo: bongda.com.vn) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’sU19 team won the 2017 International U19 Football Tournament, which drew to aclose in Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province, on April 22.
Vietnam defeated Gwangju from theRepublic of Korea 2-0 in the final to emerge champions in the tournament.
Le Xuan Nam and Le Van Nam scoredgoals to help Vietnam triumph in the tournament, which drew the participationof five teams, including Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Gwangju, Chinese Taipei and Myanmar.
Vietnam was in the attack mode assoon as the referee blew his whistle. However, in the first half, Vietnam was unableto break the defence line of their rivals.
In extra time in the first half,Huu Thuan was sent off after he was shown the yellow card for a second time.
After the break, Gwangju tried toexert pressure on Vietnam; however, the hosts managed to play according totheir tactics.
In the 69th minute, Vietnam wasawarded a penalty and Le Van Xuan made no mistake as he opened the score for Vietnam,making it 1-0 in their favour.
Only four minutes later, Le VanNam aimed his header past the Gwangju goalkeeper to double the score.
In the remaining time, thevisitors made every effort to narrow the gap, but they failed.
“The Vietnam team deserves thetitle, as it played very confidently and skillfully. The players have thepotential, and I believe that they will be approached by clubs in the nationalpremier league and the national teams,” said coach Vu Hong Viet of the Vietnamteam.
Vietnam walked away with thebonus of 10,000 USD from the event’s organising board. The team also received a100 million VND reward (4,350 USD) from the Vietnam Football Federation and theVietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company for their impressiveperformance.
Nguyen Huu Thang of Vietnam wonthe best player award and a 500 USD prize money.
In the third-place playoff match,Hoang Anh Gia Lai crushed Myanmar 4-2 in the penalty shootout after drawing 1-1in the official 90 minutes.-VNA
VNA
